The Great War
by Fairyyoshi
Summary: Verac recalls his life as he becomes as mighty as the stories say. I stink at summaries. Rated M in later chapters. R & R I do not own RuneScape.
1. Chapter 1

_They always called me a child. Yeah, I'm young; but I am no child. Children do not know the meaning of war and have not a care in the world._

_I am no child. _

_My brothers say I am too young to go to war, I will show them. I am strong, I am a warrior. _

_I have felt the kiss of a blade against my flesh; I have felt the pain that have caused men to want to die. _

_I am no child. _

_Do I need to prove it? Do I need to go and slay a demon, die in battle? Then will you believe that I am not a child? _

_Why can't they see that in these times, age means nothing? My body may be small and frail but my heart is strong._

_I will prove myself._

_I will prove to them all…_

_I am no child. _

_My name is Verac, I will, hopefully someday prove to the world, make them see…_

_That I am a warrior._

_

* * *

_

This is the era of war. As long as I, my brothers and even my mother have been alive, it's been an everlasting war. "The Gods are angry, they are fighting each other", mother used to say to me, when I was awoken by the sounds of war many a night. If they were fighting each other…why were mortals dying? That was something I did not understand, why couldn't the Gods just fight amongst themselves? Why were we all involved? Mother would say because since the Gods had control of different parts of the realm, civil war had broken out, people fighting each other all because of beliefs. A Saradominist, previous may have had a friend who was a follower of the Dark Lord Zamorak. In another time, they still would have remained friends, but in the time of the God Wars, the Zamorakian may have killed the family of the Saradominist he had once been friends with. I had been 8 at the time, when the war came to Lumbridge.

Lumbridge had been a quiet swamp village, the north, east and west sides surrounded by dense woodland. To the south, a mighty swamp that, to the eyes of an 8 year old, stretched on forever. I had never gone past the forests to the villages that may beyond. I only knew of them because of stories. The mighty Falador, with its mighty white walls, protecting its people from the outside world. Varrock, with its castles and the largest army in this land. I had always wanted to go and see them, but we were a simple family of farmers. We did not have the wealth to go to places like that. As I had previously said, the war, which had avoided Lumbridge for many years, finally came. And with it, brought death, and me and my brothers rise to glory. It had started as a normal day. I had slept in that day, for I had not been feeling well. My mother was worried I had caught ills, she always worried too much. I guess it is better than not worrying at all, but still. I did not have chores to do today. I laughed at my brothers; they had to do extra work today because they did not do as they were told. Mother requested I had go to the market on the far side of the village to buy some extra vegetables. I did not, and still do not know why our crops, which were always very good, were bad that year.

It was an easy task. I had done it many times before, and 8 year old boy was old enough to do this kind of task on his own. My eldest brother Ahrim wanted to go with me, I believe he did not think I was able to on my own.

It was sunny when I left the house and started on my way. The road was dusty, I always liked to kick up the dust when I walked, I do not know why, many people did odd things when they were small, and I was no different. When I reached the farthest part of Lumbridge, that was when everything went to, as some people say, hell. There was the village militia standing guard in the market, swords and spears drawn, looking as though expecting an attack.

"Hello Verac, it's nice to see you again."

I heard the voice of my friend and I went over to talk to her. Now, before you say anything, we were not lovers like some of you may be thinking. 8 years old was too young for such nonsense. We were merely friends, that was all.

I do not remember which of the following events happened first; whether the shadowy forms of demons in the sky or seeing a man fall to the ground, a spear lodged in his neck. All I know is that the market exploded into chaos as the demons landed. They were Greater demons. Now, I know Greater demons are not all that dangerous to skilled adventurers, but to a small village, they could easy cause mass deaths. Market stands were knocked over, people were screaming as the largest demon I have ever seen landed in the middle of the group. He carried two axes with chipped, jagged blades and his mouth contorted into a hideous smile. His voice still brings a chill down my spine.

"FLAY THEM ALL!"

On queue, all the demons attacked. The militia captain was yelling orders but to no avail, for the demons mowed through them like a farming scythe through a wheat field. My friend was screaming as human blood splashed the ground, turning the dusty road into mud. I do not remember much after that, all I do remember is holding my friend close to me as a structure came down on us with such force it knocked us both out cold.

I was awoken by a person gently shaking me. My vision was blurred but I could make out the figure of a tall woman.

"Boy, are you alright? Are you injured?"

I felt my body being lifted off the ground and I weakly called out my friend's name.

"Your friend is alright; my soldiers are looking after her. I am going to take you home, alright?"

I could not stay conscious very long, I drifted in and out of it many times. When I was finally able to stay awake, I felt cold wind on my face. I looked down and saw that we were flying high over Lumbridge. Protective arms wrapped around my body, making sure I would not fall. I looked up and the person that was holding me was a beautiful woman. She had long red hair and beautiful blue eyes. She wore blue and gold armour and had large wings.

"I see you are awake, young one."

She looked at me and smiled, I could feel myself blushing.

"You need not be afraid, young one. You are safe with me."

"Who…who are you?"

My voice was hoarse and she smiled again.

"You may call me…Zilyana. I am the Commander of the Saradomin army."

That was all she said to me until we arrived home. When we arrived my mother was in tears and began smothering me with hugs.

"Thank-you for saving my boy! When I heard the commotion and screaming I thought he…I thought he...oh God!"

After I saw what happened that day, I knew the war had to end. I couldn't bear to see more innocent people die like they had that day.


	2. Chapter 2

A few months after the events at the market, I began to request training from my oldest brothers. Well… some of you could really consider it 'being annoying and bugging them for hours on end'. First I went to Ahrim, my eldest brother. He was a very skilled mage and his wisdom was beyond his years. Unfortunately, he and I did not see eye to eye most of the time. I asked him to train me once. No, he did not do as I wanted; instead he locked me in the cellar. Thank Saradomin, my twin (we are NOT identical, I might add) Torag was nearby and came to my rescue. After that, I went back and asked Dharok, the second eldest. Unfortunately, dear Dharok is not the sharpest tool in the shed and I had to repeat myself numerous times before he began to understand. It ended up; he did not take me seriously. It was rather hard to take an 8 year old who wanted to train in combat seriously. Especially in the eyes of a 15 year old who was more interested in making his own muscles bigger.

I had one last chance. I went to ask Guthan, the third eldest. I really liked Guthan. He wasn't super smart like Ahrim, but he wasn't a bumbling idiot like Dharok. He spoke in ways that a young boy could understand, and have not a need to ask questions. When I asked him to train me, I need not be a bug, the first time I asked he simply smiled and nodded, saying.

"I will train you to the best of my ability."

The training was very difficult and painful at times, but a boy couldn't be happier. I often came home with aching bones and bleeding from numerous places but I was very proud. I probably wouldn't have gotten so many injuries if I had told Guthan to go easy on me. But that wouldn't have helped me. He went all out against me.

"Don't put your guard down, or else your enemy could get an extra attack in."

At first, we trained in secret, but eventually my other brothers found out and wanted part of it as well.

* * *

After a few years of training, I had just turned 13 and Guthan congratulated us for learning all he could teach us. Over that time, I had grown stronger; I was no longer frail and weak. Karil had left half-way through training, however. He did not want to be a warrior like the rest of us. He said if he became anything, he wanted to be a ranger, so he left and began training on his own. This was a happy time for us…

Until the day the man came to our home. The man was from Varrock. He had come to Lumbridge to recruit more soldiers for a campaign that was going to head far into the dark lands.

"The king has requested that any man 15 or older must sign up and fight for this land."

The man replied, when my mother met him at the door.

"You have 6 sons, 4 of which are able to go to war, it is requested they do."

I was very upset; my brothers had to go to war. We had been together all our lives and now we were forced to split apart. Ahrim, Dharok, Guthan and Karil told the man they would go to war and my mother began sobbing.

"Please don't take my sons away to war!"

I spoke in private to Torag. We were both under the age limit, but I refused to be apart from my other brothers, Torag agreed. We arrived at the door and told the man we wished to sign up as well. It was too much for my mother to bear, she ran into the house sobbing. The man sized us up and said.

"You are children."

"Yes but we are strong children!"

Torag replied, puffing out his chest.

The man sighed.

"You are still children. You would merely take up space."

Now, if there is anything I hate with all my being, it is being called a child.

"We are not children! We are warriors!"

I yelled and the man laughed, patting me childishly on the head.

"Someday you may. Boy, war is not a game. Do you not get beaten then laugh about it later. If you loose, you die."

That was the end of that.

* * *

Later that night as I lay awake under the folds of my feather bed I was listening to the noises coming from the next room. Guthan came into my room and sat down on the corner of my bed. I was scared, he was too. I could see it in his green eyes.

"The man is coming tomorrow and we are leaving. Verac…I'm sorry. I promise you we'll return again. I promise you that, I've never broken a promise, you know that." He hugged me and I cried. I couldn't remember the last time I had cried like this; perhaps when our father died. I have only cried like that twice in my life and after that night…I never cried again.

After Guthan left my room, I waited a while before climbing out of bed. The wood floor was cold against my feet as I snuck over to Torag's room. I gently pushed the door open and tip-toed inside. He was sound asleep. I hated to wake him at this time, but I needed to. I had a plan and I wanted him to be a part of it. I climbed onto the bed, grabbed Torag by his shoulders and gently shook him awake.

"Brother, brother are you awake? Good."

He yawned and looked at me, clearly confused.

"Verac…why did you wake me up…? I was having such a nice dream…"

I sat down beside him and whispered in his ear.

"I have an idea. Are you listening? Good, listen well. Tomorrow, that man is coming back and the others are going with him. We are going to follow them and join them. If they see us, we will fight them. We will prove to them that we are not children, we are brave and strong. Torag, we are going to war."


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up earlier than usual the next morning, before anyone else in the house. I woke up Torag and we headed off into the fields behind our home.

"The man came from Varrock, right?"

Torag asked me as I sat down to watch the road for any person travelling past. I nodded.

"But we don't even know how to get to Varrock!"

I sighed, he was right. We had never been there, nor did we know how to get there.

"Verac, I'm scared. Momma will get mad at us…"

I told Torag to be silent as I heard the thundering sound of hooves against the hard packed dirt road. I peeked over the hill and saw the Varrockian man and a group of others riding towards Lumbridge. With them, 4 riderless horses.

"He is coming! We must hurry!"

I whispered as we ran towards the house. We hid behind it as the man came to the door and talked to mother. Once again, she was in tears as my other brothers marched out the door. Ahrim greeted the man and Dharok hit him on the back in a friendly way that ended up being so hard it made the man fall over.

"Verac, momma is going to be mad at us."

I told him to be silent once more, I could see he was about to cry.

"Torag… Torag if you are going to cry and be a baby, then stay here. I am going, and nothing you say or do can make me stop. I trained for this and I AM going."

We both heard the door close and we saw the men and our brothers ride away. I was going to follow them, with or without Torag. When they got a good distance, I turned to Torag and told him I was leaving now. I threw my hood up over my head and began following the road. I turned back at Torag and he looked as though he was going to have a fit. He stomped his foot on the ground and he yelled something at me, but I could not hear it that well.

"I guess I'm going alone."

I had never ventured this far before. I hopped a fence and looked back, I could barely see Lumbridge. I was standing in knee-high grass and entering a wooded area. I knew I was probably lost, I had no idea where I was going, or what direction. I knew I had been walking for some time, for it was slowly getting dark.

"I'll go find a place to rest for the night, I guess. I hope Torag and mother are alright…"

I walked until I could walk no more. My feet hurt very much. I sat underneath a large tree and leaned against the trunk. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was the best I could get. I tried to fall asleep, but there were too many weird noises around me. I knew that whenever I was scared mother would be there, to comfort me and tell me everything was going to be alright.

But she wasn't here. I was alone. I curled up into a small ball, I was alone. All alone. It finally hit me.

Suddenly I heard a noise, a rustling in bushes nearby. I jumped to my feet, grabbing a large rock near my feet. I ran towards the bush with the rock raised above my head and was about to strike…

* * *

"Verac! Wait! Don't hurt me!"

I dropped the rock on the ground and Torag crawled out of the bushes. He was covered in small cuts and bruises. I could tell he had been crying, for his dirty face was stained with the tracks of tears.

"Torag! W…what are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Torag hugged me tightly, lifting me off the ground slightly.

"I…I followed you. I couldn't…couldn't leave you. I…I was scared Verac. Oh God."

He set me on the ground and I sat down, smiling weakly.

"I thought you weren't going to come."

Torag didn't say anything, instead, he lay beside me, his face buried in my shoulder, and I could hear him sobbing.

I looked down at him, unclasp my cloak and covered him with it. I could tell it was going to be a cold night, for it was already starting to get cool. Without my cloak over my clothing, I was cold, but I could handle colder temperatures better than Torag; he needed the cloak more than I did tonight.

**(A/N: Well there is chapter 3; I hope you guys like it. Reviews are loved so please R&R. Thanks. ^_^)**


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